I am Really a Superstar

A month later.

In the morning.

In a prison.

This was a single occupancy cell. The facilities in it were very old, but the place was kept relatively clean. There wasn’t anyone else in it except for Zhang Ye. This was already Zhang Ye’s third day here. There was no one to disturb him, no television to watch, and no Internet to browse, so it was way too fucking peaceful in here. The only drawback was that his days were becoming a little monotonous. For the past few days, he had nothing better to do than sleep. He did not know how others would feel about this, but for a person like him who got restless the moment he didn’t get into the occasional fight or argument, this was indeed quite boring.

News?

Fans?

The media?

The outside world was isolated beyond the prison bars.

Zhang Ye found activities to keep himself busy and would often sing a little when there was nothing else to do.

Just look, this fellow was doing exactly that right now ¹ .

“Iron gates, iron bars, and iron manacles.

“Gazing out with my hands clutching these bars.

“How wonderful life is on the outside.

“When can I return home again?

“When can I return home again?

“All of these shackles that locked me up.

“Dear friend, won’t you listen to me sing—”

Outside, a young prison guard walked over, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Teacher Zhang, why are you singing this song again? Can you change it to something else? I’ve heard it more than 20 times over the past few days.”

This was a popular song from the ’80s in Zhang Ye’s previous world. It was called “Tears Behind Prison Bars,” and the prison guards were all getting tormented by it every day.

Zhang Ye threw up his hands in boredom. “What else can I do besides sing?”

The young prison guard said excitedly, “Why don’t you write a novel? Or a TV series script? You have nothing to do anyway, and I especially like reading the things that you write.”

Zhang Ye acknowledged and said, “I can consider writing a TV series script.”

The young prison guard said excitedly, “What do you intend to write about?”

Zhang Ye asked, “Eh, has anyone made a drama based on breaking out of prison before?”

The young prison guard nearly faceplanted. He said nervously, “I think it’s better that you stick to singing ‘Tears Behind Prison Bars!'”

“Haha, just kidding.” Zhang Ye was amused.

The young prison guard opened the cell door. “Don’t scare me like that. There’s someone here to visit you. Please get ready.”

“Who is it?” Zhang Ye roused himself at the words.

The young prison guard smiled and said, “It’s your parents and in-laws.”

Zhang Ye waved it off. “Then I’m not going.”

The young prison guard gasped, “Huh?”

Although that was what he said, Zhang Ye still got up and exited the cell. “Hai, how could it be anything good if it’s them? I bet you it’ll end up as a major lecture for me!”

The young prison guard laughed. “Teacher Zhang, honestly speaking, you’ve got the best mentality of all the prisoners that I’ve come across in my time. A lot of those who get sent here end up changing greatly. I’ve never seen anyone who sings every day and keeps themselves entertained the way you do. No wonder you’re my idol.”

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “I’m singing a song like ‘Tears Behind Prison Bars,’ and you call that having a positive outlook? Come on, let’s go.”

Outside.

After turning left and right multiple times, they finally reached the visitation room.

Zhang Ye could see his family from afar.

There wasn’t any shouting or yelling.

Nor was there any hugging and crying.

It had been a month since the incident, and everyone was at peace with what had happened.

His mother was already harrumphing at her son without waiting for him to sit down. “Mess around, keep messing around. I want to see how you can still fight with others now. Show me!”

Zhang Ye strolled over and sat down. “Who can I fight with now? Just wait until I get released.”

“Ah?” Wu Changhe said angrily, “You mean you’re still thinking about fighting other people?”

Zhang Ye asked, “Dad, where’s my wife? Why is it only you four who came to visit?”

Wu Changhe said in annoyance, “So you mean you don’t want us to come?”

Well, of course.

However, Zhang Ye would never say that out loud.

Li Qinqin said, “Zeqing said she wanted to come.”

His father stared at him. “Zeqing is going to give birth soon, so how can we let her move around so much at such a time? We stopped her from coming.”

“Is she feeling OK?” Zhang Ye asked in concern.

His mother harrumphed, “Other than you, all of us are doing quite well.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Then I’m relieved.”

Li Qinqin criticized, “Oh you! You’ve really worried us so this time. Only Zeqing is gracious enough to not get anxious over anything at all. Do you know how worried your parents and I were? A media outlet even wrote that you might be sentenced to life in prison before the court gave its sentence. That scared us so much that we couldn’t get a good night’s rest for two days.”

Zhang Ye asked, “Mom, which media outlet wrote that? Tell me. When I get released, I’ll go and look for them. What life in prison? It’s not like I slaughtered and burned. What I did was a chivalrous act by fighting for my country and its citizens. You’ve all gotta think of this in a positive manner. If this incident didn’t happen, could I have reached the summit of the Asian entertainment circle? Even if I could’ve, it might’ve taken a year or two, or even three to five years for that to happen. This is what we call spending on credit. For the next few years, I’m just gonna stay here and rest up. I’ll recharge. When I get out of here, I’ll take a shot at reaching the top of the international entertainment circle!”

His mother curled her lips and said, “Stop bragging.”

Li Qinqin looked at her watch. “Are visiting hours almost over?”

“Mom, feel free to talk as long as you want.” Zhang Ye waved his hands and said, “I know the people here, and they won’t interfere even if we talk for a few more hours. But in the future, don’t come here for no reason. It’s an important time for Old Wu. If you’re all here, Old Wu is at home all by herself. Go back earlier. I’m doing rather well, so don’t worry.”

The elders looked him over. Indeed, he did look rather good. He was even more spirited than when he was out. Before coming over, they were rather worried and afraid to find him in a state of dishevelment. But it seemed like they had worried too much. What storms and calamities had this kid not been through? Not too many things could rattle him. Just look, it had only been three days and he was already all chummy with the prison guards. In addition, his relationship with the prison warden was very good. When Zhang Ye had just been sent here, the warden even came out to personally receive him.

Pretty good.

Yes, he was doing pretty good.

…

In the prison cell.

After seeing his parents, Zhang Ye came back. He was touched.

He couldn’t keep going on like that. He really had to find something proper to do. Otherwise, he might just be unable to keep up with the times upon his release. He had to accumulate experience and recharge. Zhang Ye had never once forgotten about his goal to reach the summit of the international entertainment circle ever since the day he debuted.

He couldn’t get on the Internet?

He couldn’t release any works?

But he could gain more skills!

Like lockpicking?

Like wall climbing?

He could use all of those skills after getting out—uh, actually it looks like those skills were only going to be useful in here.

Forget it, it’s time for the lottery!

Even if he couldn’t do other things, there was no problem with playing the lottery. Moreover, the total Reputation Points that Zhang Ye had accumulated in the game ring was more than enough for him to play the lottery for three straight days and nights!

Come on, come on, come on!

Lottery draw, lottery draw, lottery draw!

However, the moment Zhang Ye brought up the game ring’s interface, he discovered a system notification. Having reached a specific Reputation Points level, the game ring was upgraded again. At the very beginning, the game ring only had the Lottery Draw (One) system in it and would dispense small treasure chests as prizes. Later, when it was upgraded, the Lottery Draw (Two) system was unlocked, and he was able to get medium-sized treasure chests. Now that the game ring had been upgraded again, the level three large treasure chests got unlocked!